The 20% overbid was a baller move. Well played, sir.

[sugarwood]

Recently, I resumed shopping for a 2nd summer car. Sunday, I saw a near perfect ad within 2 hours of listing: Low miles, totally original, mature seller, and priced under the market. I still had the cash in my desk, from last fall’s shopping.

Talked that morning, but he was not going to be home until 3pm. I said I’d could come over at 3pm. Later in the AM, he then calls me and says his phone is blowing up, and he might have mispriced it. He says another guy is begging him to come see it, and says he will pay full asking right now (lives 5 mins away)......but he is going to let me see it first, once he gets home. So, it was clear I was going to pay full asking if I wanted this car, since there was now a line behind me. Well, it’s worth every penny at asking, so don’t be a moron. Fine, I said I have the cash, and I am a serious buyer, and I will see him at 3pm.

I text him at 2pm to confirm the viewing. No reply. Damn, I had a feeling this seller was going to ghost. He finally calls me back at like 3pm and says the other guy showed up and offered 20% above asking, and is calling friends to get the cash on a Sunday. Otherwise, he will come back Monday. I decided I wasn’t up for a bidding war, so I said congrats on the sale.

...sniped from right under my nose! One thing I’ve learned ...is that a good car listed at a correct price car sells within 24-48 hours. But, the 20% overbid was a baller move. Well played, sir.

Feeling bad, I took the 911 for nice 20 mile loop and forgot all about this episode.

[BE911SC]

Alaska Airlines just bought Virgin America out from under Jet Blue by paying more than it was worth. It's a shark tank out there!

[manbridge 74]

Trust me, you don't want that 350z.

[Craig T]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

Trust me, you don't want that 350z.

Not even the twin turbo?

[onewhippedpuppy]

What price do you put on integrity? I just sold a car for $500 under asking. A few hours later another buyer that I'd been talking to contacted me to buy the car. I told him I had a sale pending and that he was second in line, he proceeded to commit to paying full asking, and sent me a deposit. I told him no and returned his deposit, the first buyer should be here this week to pick it up. The guy just couldn't understand how I could say no to more money. Freaking shady people.

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

What price do you put on integrity? I just sold a car for $500 under asking. A few hours later another buyer that I'd been talking to contacted me to buy the car. I told him I had a sale pending and that he was second in line, he proceeded to commit to paying full asking, and sent me a deposit. I told him no and returned his deposit, the first buyer should be here this week to pick it up. The guy just couldn't understand how I could say no to more money. Freaking shady people.

Very different. In my case, the car was never sold to me. In fast, I never even saw the car.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Very different. In my case, the car was never sold to me. In fast, I never even saw the car.

Well sorta. Right or wrong I tend to give first dibs to the first person to contact me. In this case I actually received the deposit from sniper buyer before real buyer, as real buyer didn't have PayPal and was trying to figure out an account. I'm an old fashioned "handshake is a deal" sorta guy.

[HardDrive]

My terms of sale are firm, and I don't give a rat's arse if I lose a sale: Cash, in the lobby of my bank.

[HardDrive]

Well, except when I'm selling meth of course.

[BeyGon]

I bought a 64 Corvette at the Long Beach Swap Meet, I took a good look at the car and gave the guy a check for his asking price. I told him he could cash it tomorrow morning when the bank opened. It was Sunday. He said he would keep the check and I could come over with the cash. I said OK, we set a time and that was it.
Monday when I went over with the cash he said before he could get out of there he had guys with cash offering more than I paid him. He told them no, he had a check, the car was mine. You gotta love honest people, that and the car was everything he said. It was the 360 horse 327, absolutely original and 110 thousand miles. It was a nice car.

[Drbraunsr]

Partsheaven (wrecking yard) - recently held Carrera heads and intake on my word I would drive up from LA to SanF. I asked if he wants a down payment and he said no, my word was good enough.
A few days before the agreed upon rendezvous, a cash buyer came in to buy the intake - they said no.
Gotta love a wrecking yard - where their word is their bond.

[vash]

Reminds me of that line in the that movie Heaven can Wait b


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[ckelly78z]

My observation with buyers is somewhat the same, but somewhat different. I get people blowing up my phone with texts about how interested they are in my car/truck, set up a meet and greet, confirm that they will be at my house at a certain time on a certain day, and then ...........crickets.......no show, so text, no call.

My son is expecting a guy to come tonight to buy his truck. This guy has been in the military overseas for the last month or two, and promises the world. I am trying to prepare my son for the inevitable dissapointment of him disappearing off the face of the earth with no contact.....who knows, maybe this guy will follow through, but not likely, it has happened so manty times to me.

I preach to my son, that when I say, I will be there t a certain time, I show up with cash in hand. If I am selling something, the first guy who contacts me and confirms his desire to buy has 1st right of refusal, no exceptions, even for more money.

My word is my bond, but so many other people don't follow that code.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Very different. In my case, the car was never sold to me. In fast, I never even saw the car.

But he did agree to let you see the car at 3PM. If I had said that to you, I would not sell the car to another buyer at 2PM.

He should have said '3PM is fine, but if someone comes sooner and buys the car you are out of luck'.

And when the second buyer guy called the seller after you, the seller should have said 'I have a buyer coming at 3, I will call you if he doesn't buy it'.

Buyers on Craigslist are flakey, my ads are clear 'first one with cash buys it'. No 'holds', cash talks.

'Show up at 3 if you want to, car might be here, or it might be sold'.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

What price do you put on integrity?

Exactly. You give your word; you keep. As for some people that's all they have...

[Macroni]

This seems to be happening more and more lately........ I even witnessed the seller honoring the place in line but upping his ask.

[Charles Freeborn]

A friend has a rental that turns every few years. Market is red hot in our town. So, he advertises in C'list with an open house date and time - maybe 2 hrs long. No phone, no calls, show up or shut up.
Could be an interesting way to sell a car. Pick an empty parking lot on a weekend, give a time and date and first come first served. Best offer by deadline, no BS, buyer drives it away.

[look 171]

It is sales, so you are going to get all type of tire kickers and unreliable people coming out of the woods. Ever notice the age group or the type of people who by used cars? I have not sold one car through Craigslist list but have done so in the local paper like The Recycler back in college. The no shows are a real pain. They promise you the world and they ended up screwing up your whole day. Its easier to sell a used car to someone I know for cheap.

From my experience, the older guys are good as gold with their word. The younger crowd, not so much. I bought my Land Cruiser from an old lawyer. My girlfriend and I showed up to his mansion in Malibu and talked to him for about 5 minutes. He threw me the keys and said," Don't hurt yourself". I came back and offer to leave 500 bucks for a deposit so I can run to the bank for some money Monday. He said, no need, " Write me a check and take the damn thing home. Its insured, I will get my money one way or another on it." Check cleared, he called me a few days later. Both of us were happy. That's way business should be done. My word is gold as well and people/clients seem to like that. I have a couple of big jobs rolling through later this summer, bu t I made a promise to this lady that I would put in a bath for her beginning of summer. This bathroom is at 10% of what the other jobs would cost. As much as I know its a poor business decision, it had to be done. Its the right thing to do. Everyone gets bump back for 3 weeks, no big deal, but its eating me up to be not on schedule.

[sugarwood]

The "no show" phenomenon is actually validation for the seller to take the bird in hand, rather than turn away money to show me, a potential flake, the car at 3pm.
He didn't know me from a hole in the wall, and if he's got experience with the typical CL flake, his move was the bird in hand.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

But he did agree to let you see the car at 3PM. If I had said that to you, I would not sell the car to another buyer at 2PM.

He should have said '3PM is fine, but if someone comes sooner and buys the car you are out of luck'.

And when the second buyer guy called the seller after you, the seller should have said 'I have a buyer coming at 3, I will call you if he doesn't buy it'.

Buyers on Craigslist are flakey, my ads are clear 'first one with cash buys it'. No 'holds', cash talks.

'Show up at 3 if you want to, car might be here, or it might be sold'.

Your comment above in bold font does not compute.

In the OP's post, the seller said he wouldn't be home until 3pm:

he was not going to be home until 3pm

How would the buyer know someone WOULD come over before 3pm....and how come the seller WAS home before 3pm.

That's the effed up part.